Tiburones end Tigres streak

Photo courtesy of los Tigres de Aragua

Aragua 7 at La Guaira 8

W: A. Tovar (3-1, 4.24); L: V. Moreno (4-2, 3.71)
HR: LAG: R. Mateo (1).

Los Tiburones de La Guaira ended los Tigres de Aragua win streak Thursday night, rallying past the visiting team in the 9th inning to pick up an 8-7 victory.

Aragua got on the board early, with Luis Rodriguez (San Diego) starting off with a triple. Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) brought him in on a sac-fly.

The Tigres added to their total with Alex Nunez (F/A) singling. Alex Rodriguez (Arizona) doubled one out later to move Nunez to 3rd. He'd come home on a sac fly by Martin Prado (Atlanta).

La Guaira answered back though in the the bottom of the 2nd, with Ruben Mateo (Milwaukee) hitting a double out to left. With 2 outs and a walk to Alvin Colina (Cincinnati), Luis Hernandez (Baltimore) would single to bring in Mateo, making it 2-1 Tigres.

The game would work through 3 more scoreless innings before Cabrera led off the top of the 6th with a walk. Hector Gimenez (Houston) doubled moving Cabrera to 3rd. A single by Nunez served to plate the Tigre's 3rd baseman, and a throwing error advanced Nunez to 2nd. A sac-fly by Raul Chavez (Pittsburgh) brought in Gimenez, to make it 4-1 Aragua.

The Cats could not hang on the lead though. Alejandor Freire (F/A) doubled off Minnesota's Frank Mata in the bottom of the 6th. That was followed up by Maeteo going yard over the center field wall to cut the Tigres lead to just 1 run. Liu Rodriguez (F/A) singled, Colina walked and Hernandez would single to drive Rodriguez and tie up the game. The Tigers called for a pitching change with Jose Mijares (Minnesota) taking the mound. He'd allow a single to Greg Blanco (Atlanta) that moved the runners before getting Danny Sandoval (Philadelphia) to strike out. A single to Alex Sanchez (Chicago White Sox) brought in Colina, giving the Sharks the lead.

Los Tigres answered back in the top of the 7th however, with Luis Figueroa (San Francisco) and Luis Rodriguez (San Diego) both drawing walks off Richard Salazar (Baltimore). La Guaira brought Gerardo Casadeigo (Colorado) into the game. Luis Maza (LA Dodgers) reached on a force attempt that saw both runners score and Maza end up at 2nd base on a throwing error by Casadiego. After a ground out to Cabrera and a fly out Giminez, Nunez would reach on a fielding error which allowed Maza to score, giving the Tigres a 1 run lead.

With former Miracle Victor Moreno (Baltimore) on the mound in the 9th, Sanchez would single and Oscar Salazar (Baltimore) would triple him in to tie up the game. Moreno would then intentionally walk Ron Acuna (F/a) and Mateo. After L-Rod popped out to L-Rod, Javier Colina (F/A) would hit a sac-fly to driving Salazar, ending the game with a Tiburones win.

Cabrera finished up the game 0-for-3 at the plate with a walk and a run, Maza was 0-for-5 with a run, L-Rod was 2-for-4 with a walk and 2 runs and Romero was 2-for-2 with a double.

Kyle Middleton (Houston) made his last start for the Cats, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 2 in 3.2 innings. As per the terms of his contract, he'll be returning to the States.

Mata was charged for 5 runs (all earned) on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 1 in .1 inning worth of work. Mijares was not charged for any of the inherited runs, allowing 2 hits and striking out 1 in 1 inning worth of work. Moreno took his 4th loss of the season as well as suffering the blown save, allowing 2 run, both earned on 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2 in 2 innings worth of work.

The Cats take Friday off. The two teams rematch on Saturday with Aragua hosting los Tiburones and Sunday with La Guaira again playing host to los Tigres.

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